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Goal to establish self-sustaining Christian community within facilities

In this climate of divisiveness and egocentrism, Kimble Kearns is looking to recruit volunteers for Kairos Prison Ministry.

"We're not about excluding people or telling them that they need to change their lives," Kearns said.

The volunteers spend a weekend with prisoners, referred to as residents, twice a year.

"The goal is to have them to establish a Christian community in prison and to lead their own self-sustaining meetings," Kearns said.

Kearns has worked with the international organization for four years. He has participated in weekends in the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Las Cruces and the Otero County Correctional Facility in Chaparral, New Mexico.

"The organization in Las Cruces is about 15 to 20 years old," Kearns said. "The Otero group is a splinter group and the one with a need."

Volunteers undergo a 34-hour training session in the Kairos method and an orientation on prison rules and what to expect when working with residents.

During the weekend, the gym of the facility is divided into a conference room, chapel and quiet area. A lunch line is set up where food from the outside is served for lunch and dinner.

Correctional officers are stationed in the gym but, despite confinement and harsh environment, Kearns noted that there is a lot of fun during the day when the volunteers meet with the inmates.

A strong bond takes place, especially once the residents realize the focus of the program.

"The mantra is love, love, listen, listen," Kearns said. "There are no altar calls or mass conversions. That would resemble a show where others might feel obligated to join in. We don't do that. We are planting seeds."

Often gang members or leaders in the prison are the ones encouraged to participate in the weekend.

"When you look at these guys, they are my son's age," Kearns said. "The façade they've developed of being tough and angry is so thin. It is understandable and the result of the culture that they live in day in and day out in order to survive."

Once they understand the concept of unconditional love, however, their guards frequently come down.

"For so many of them unconditional love is foreign to them," Kearns said. "In their homes, there might be neglect and addiction. No one cares if a young child goes to school or is tended after. In many cases, if there was love, it is a performance-based love."

Often by not asking what they are in for and bringing the conversation to their own stories of bad choices, volunteers can break through.

"They come to terms with their own feelings of guilt along with the realization that things can change," Kearns said. "We talk about forgiveness of those who hurt us. We tell of our stories and what it meant to give those feelings up. It may be the first time these guys conceive that there is a place where darkness does not rule, where the love of God rules, and that it is not necessary to live in fear and anxiety."

Despite the personal nature of the one-on-one conversations, the hours spent with residents are actually very organized and scripted. In the evenings, volunteers go home or stay in nearby motels. A local church acts as a staging area where volunteers meet to package the meals.

Volunteers also work in the women's prison and a weekend at the Lonetree Camp near Capitan takes place for families of residents.

Kearns has a presentation he gives to groups of those interested in volunteering.

"It shows that if a middle-aged old man like me is involved, that maybe anyone can do this. It's hard to envision working with someone in prison but, through slides, I can show the process."

A training date has not been scheduled yet, but will be developed once volunteers have come aboard.

"We'll have seven trainings on Saturdays to get the 34 hours in," Kearns said. "I am hoping for an early December weekend date. If not then maybe in the spring or next autumn."